Mat Kearney comes to Hope Concert Series

The Hope College Concert Series team brought acclaimed musician Mat Kearney to West Michigan on Monday night for a concert at Holland’s Knickerbocker Theatre.

HEIDI FENTON

There were sweatshirts and jackets strewn across the ground. Pizza boxes lay wide open next to piles of textbooks and bags of candy. The scene resembled that of a group stuck with a long airport layover, except here they were, spread out on the sidewalk in central Holland.

Mat Kearney had come to town.

The Hope College Concert Series team brought the acclaimed musician to West Michigan on Monday night for a concert at Holland’s Knickerbocker Theatre. Tickets went on sale earlier this month just for students, and all but a few seats that were reserved sold within 24 hours.

“We’re really lucky to be able to have gotten Mat Kearney,” said Hope faculty member Joshua Banner.
The event, he said, likely generated the most interest since a 2010 concert series performance by singer-songwriter Iron & Wine.

Hope student Cassidy Duffey, 18, approached the theater at 1 p.m. Monday and was among the first in line for Kearney’s general admission performance. Six hours later, her enthusiasm continued to build. After snatching up some of the first tickets, Duffey said, she wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity for great seats.

“On his newest album, there’s a lot of sweet beats that we haven’t heard before,” she said.

In the background, a friend called out, “Guys, there’s less than two hours!”

After an afternoon of waiting, it wasn’t hard to imagine the scrambling that was about to ensue.

Mike Bass, director of the student-organized concert series, said he pulled together the performance in August after noticing Kearney planned to bring his tour to Michigan. The artist was to perform today at Interlochen Center for the Arts, southwest of Traverse City.

“It’s almost surreal for students that he’s coming right next door, right across the street,” Bass said.

Organizers discussed moving the performance to a larger venue, such as DeVos Fieldhouse, to accommodate a larger crowd. But the extra cost and risk of not selling enough tickets was too much, Bass said.

“Just being able to see a big name in a small setting like this, it’s going to be really neat,” said Andrea Matthew, 18, of Grosse Pointe Woods.

As the lights later dimmed inside, Kearney picked up his guitar and started with “Count On Me,” a song off his newest record, “Young Love.”

The entire crowd was on its feet, some moving into the isles. The crowd cheered as Kearney off-handedly referenced the local Lemonjello’s coffee shop.